‘I Took a Life because I Needed One’: Psychotherapeutic Possibilities with the Schizophrenic Offender-Patient

Abstract

This paper’s fulcrum is a schizophrenic’s explanation as to why he had taken a life: ‘I took a life because I needed one.’ It attempts to describe the exploration of therapeutic possibilities with the schizophrenic offender-patient. Particular attention is paid to the Associative Mode. This is a way of safely engaging with the patient in the depth of his experience without shattering his precarious defences. The discussion illustrates the close inter-dependence between the dynamic content of individual and group psychotherapy, the life of the hospital as a whole and the significance of therapeutic space being contained within a secure perimeter.